Favorite Welder

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I was just wondering which welder is everybody's favorite?  One you have or one you've used/borrowed.  Not type of welder but actual welder.My Babies:MillerMatic 185Thermal Arc 300SHobart StickMate AC/DC 235/160Dalex Werke Spot WelderOh and the wife and kids are important too!
Reply:Meco Aviator from the 1930's paired up with a set of the new Smith medium duty regulators, using a factory adapter and Meco N tips.-Aaron
Reply:Miller 320 A/BP, 200 amp TIG/Stick Welder. I bought it new in 1981, and it's more than paid for itself a few times!!!--------------------John
Reply:For stick I really like my PowCon 300SM.  That is always my first choice when I do stick in the shop.  I also like the CST 280 stick welder I have used.  My Dialarc HF is a very nice stick welder too, maybe nicer than the PowCon.  The Bobcat is OK, it gets the job done fine.  I like it better than the Lincoln Weldanpower I have tried before.  My Thermal Arc wasnt that great on stick but good on TIG.  Other stick welders I have used in past were nothing to write home about, various AC buzz boxes, a few AC/DC's.  I would like to try a Trailblazer 302, an SA 200 and an XMT 350 just to see how they are, since they're all 3 supposed to be the cat's meow.  For mig I really love my 350P and the 350P's I used to weld with at my old job.   I also like my Passport for mobile work.  It is amazing what that little machine can do.  The Millermatic 175 here has been good too.  My HTP 200 has been a great machine for me for alot of years, but of course the 350P leaves it in the dust with all it's technology and power.  I liked the old CP250TS machines we used to have at work, they were very smooth.   If I had 3-phase power here I would have kept the one I got, despite it being a huge heavy tank to make space for.  I have flux core'd with an XMT 304 and 22 or 24 feeder and that combo worked good.  I would like to try an XMT 350 pulser hooked up to my XR feeder and Python torch some day.  My guess is it will probly be very similar to the 350P.   I would also like to try an XMT hooked up to a Suitcase voltage sensing feeder to see how that combo is.  I'd like to try the Suitcase on a Trailblazer as well.For mig torches, my favorite for aluminum is the Python.  I like welding with it much more than the Spoolmatic spool gun and XR pistol gun I have (both same gun, just set it up 2 different ways).  Python is much more comfortable.  The older Cobra gooseneck guns I have from my old job are ok, better than the pistol/spool gun, but that Python is still more comfortable to use all day.  My pinky and ring fingers used to get tired from pulling the rear mounted triggers on the Cobra torches.  I later switched to holding the gun by the cables and triggering with the index finger and that worked better but I still prefer the Python.  I would like to try that new Alumapro torch to see if it is any different than the Python.  For steel, that cheap little M10 gun that came on my Passport and MM175 is not a bad gun for what it is.  It's small and easier to get into smaller spaces than the Q-Gun I have on the 350P.  The gun on the HTP is about the same as the M10.  I like the Q-Gun best cause I have a few different necks for it and I change them around sometimes so the adjustability is nice.  It's bulky, but it can handle alot of heat.  I have melted the HTP gun twice running wide open, it's too small for the machine.  Other guns I have used, mostly Twecos and old Millers, have been ok, nothing special.  For a steel mig gun, as long as it feeds the wire without hanging up, it's good.  I would like to try that Duraflux gun some day for flux core welding.We had a robotic welding machine at my old job too.  I used it a few times.  It was too complicated.  I would rather weld by hand than fool with the robot.  I got alot more production done by hand than I ever did with the robot.  It was a Daihen with an OTC.  The mig power supply was pulsed AC, not DC/CV.  Very interesting machine.  It worked good when all set up perfect and running fine, just too complicated for me and even in more experienced hands it was glitchy and needed constant fooling around with.  That is the only robot I have ever messed with and don't envision using any more robots in the future unless I go work in production again.I don't consider myself any kind of expert on tig welding.  I have a pretty good handle on it now, though I have only welded tig with my Dialarc HF, Thermal Arc 185 ACDC, an old Synchrowave and a Dynasty 350.  The Dialarc is nothing to write home about, neither was the Synchrowave.  The Thermal Arc has been pretty good, just a little under powered some times.  I like the soft arc.  I haven't messed with any of the pulse controls.  That Dynasty was great.   I would like to have a Dynasty some day.  If I was a really awesome tig welder though, it probly wouldn't matter what machine was being used.   For amperage controls, I prefer a foot pedal, doesn't to me what kind, preferably one heavy enough not to move around unintentionally.  I have one of those finger controls but honestly I can't use it for a dam.  I end up dipping the tung when I push the button forward or lifting the tung away when I pull the button back.  I haven't tried one of the rotary finger controls but my guess is I would be wagging the torch back and forth when operating it.  Maybe some day I'll try one but won't be expecting anything good of it.  Guess my fingers just aren't dextrous enough for tig'ing with a finger control.  That and guitar playing.  I can't fret the strings very well.  I pick fine though and type and draw good too.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:ESAB MultiMaster 260.  Mig, Pulse Mig, DC Tig, and Stick.  300 amps and the best short arc money can buy!   Most multiprocess machines only do one process well but thats not the case with this one. Extremely versatile and can even weld aluminum with a spool gun.Welding is my hobby, I just happen to get paid for it!
Reply:I use a Syncrowave 250 at work all day. It does the job but I would really like to try a Dynasty DX so I can see what the pulsing is all about. We do a lot of light gauge stuff so it'd probably be pretty sweet.
Reply:LINDIE/UNION CARBIDE VI-400 hands down end of story.   I have 6 of them and other than taking the skins of every several years to blow them out they never need any attention.  their the cats arse on stainless wire also.  I even run my Cobramatic off of one. Second was the old AIRCO memory arc.   I was super sad when I couldn't get repair parts for it any more.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:dynasty 200dx, hands down...i dont use half of the features, like pulse, even though i work with all thing gauges, but between the incredible duty cycle, and the stability of the arc, and the fan on demand, its just such a smooth, reliable, sweet machine...wouldnt want to weld with anything else...just wish i could afford to buy one to play with at home, and not only at work haha
Reply:My Lincoln Invertec 205. Dynamite comes in small packages!!And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.
Reply:My Lincoln SA 200's.  I sold my remaining 2 when I "semi-retired".  I kept my old Miller AEAD200LE.  Can't come close to the "Pipeliner's"
Reply:Lincoln SA-200 for the stick welding, Syncrowave for AC TIG, and the Miller 350P for MIG.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:yes the dynasty 200 dx
Reply:any of the old torpedo welders were real smoth my dad has a hobart 500 amp from the 40s great welder
Reply:stick-either the new multiquip dc or the sa250(never used a standard 200)mig/fcaw- lincoln. end of storyi cant comment much on tig as the only one i have ever ran was my pt225. as far as my favorite, my pt225. i can tig and stick.any of you guys ever run the multiquip 170a welder?Millermatic 211weldpack 3200 squirtgunsquare wave 200victory journeyman kitHypertherm 30xptoo much other crap to listtinkerer extraordinaire
Reply:Originally Posted by Carolina WelderESAB MultiMaster 260.  the best short arc money can buy!  .
Reply:Originally Posted by Brand XUnless you weld with properly setup Esab 350 mpi. The 260 is still very nice, when the inductance control is added to the option list. I have had both machines. The 260 has the same front-end as the Esab 460 (circuit boards) http://products.esabna.com/EN/home/a...ategory_id.130
Reply:I always used SA-200s for stick. Best stick welder ever made for a mobile rig I always thought. When I un-retired I bought a Ranger 250 and it does stick in pipe mode exactly like a 200 but on about half the gasoline and less than half the weight. And it will do things that the 200 won't. Now that I've re-retired I can let it set for months and fire it up to do something and it welds just like it did the last time I used it.
Reply:Well a Millermatic250 with a spool gun is NOT my favorite. It almost grew wings and flew across the shop todayDisclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:Originally Posted by Carolina WelderThe 350mpi is very nice, especially for stainless.  ESAB just came out with a MTS-3500i to replace the 350mpi and it is unbelievable. It blows the Miller XMT series out of the water. By-the-way, the 260 comes with the inductance control standard now. You are correct, the 260 is the single phase version of the ESAB Multipower 460.
Reply:miller syncrowave 250dx...